Chapter 253: Tactical Strike

It is about eight thousand li from Three Linked City.

In a medium-sized stone cavern with a radius of about a hundred li, more than a hundred Chonglou Realm cultivators hovered in midair, warily looking around.

Behind them on the rock wall, a heavy metal door was firmly embedded in the wall. Streaks of electricity darted across the metal door, occasionally emitting a crisp 'Pa' sound.

In front of these Chonglou Realm cultivators, more than two thousand Sensing Mystery Realm and Foundation Establishment cultivators, wearing various armor, relied on a defensive great formation formed by dozens of stone pillars, forming a heavy defensive formation.

Time passed second by second; suddenly, the metal door burst open, and a continuous, mellow, wine-like soul wave surged out from the cavern behind the door.

Wherever this soul wave reached, whether Chonglou Realm, Sensing Mystery Realm, or Foundation Establishment cultivators, all experienced soul turbulence, their faces flushed red, their bodies violently shaking as if drunk.

Chonglou Realm cultivators fell from the air, clumsily lying on the ground, shaking their heads.

Sensing Mystery Realm and Foundation Establishment cultivators sat dazed on the ground, their eyeballs spinning, the scenery before them constantly swaying, their pupils dilating and contracting, having lost the ability to move.

A red-faced old man shook his head and exclaimed joyfully: "Success, the old ancestor has finally broken through Chonglou and condensed the Life Pool… Our Sima family, from today on, is no longer a third-rate power under Three Linked City."

The soul wave emanating from the cavern was the overflow of excessively strong soul power when a Chonglou Realm cultivator broke through Chonglou and condensed the Life Pool, forming a soul tide intertwined with heavenly and earthly primal energy.

Only at the instant when a Life Pool Realm cultivator condenses the Life Pool does such an intense, wine-like soul tide uncontrollably overflow.

This proves that the Sima family's old ancestor has indeed achieved the Life Pool Realm.

Among the thirty major domains controlled by Three Linked City, whether a family possesses a Life Pool Realm cultivator makes a world of difference in status and treatment.

Without a Life Pool Realm cultivator to hold the fort, even if a family has many more Chonglou Realm elites, they can only be slaughtered at will. A single casual command from a Life Pool Realm old ancestor can make the family pay a heavy price.

Third-rate powers… a family without a Life Pool Realm cultivator to hold the fort is merely a third-rate power.

With a Life Pool Realm old ancestor, the family instantly transforms into a second-rate power; although it cannot compare to first-rate families that have high-ranking or peak Life Pool Realm old ancestors, or even multiple Life Pool Realm old ancestors holding the fort, its treatment is nevertheless vastly different.

At least, at least, the Sima family's old ancestor now has the qualification to go to the Three Linked Region to 'sell himself'!

The Sima family's old ancestor is qualified to go to Three Linked City, carefully select a direct descendant son of one of the Twelve Executor families to rely on, serve him wholeheartedly, and thereby gain the protection of the Twelve Executor families.

Once the direct descendant son that the Sima family's old ancestor relies on gains some power in the future, the Sima family's status will naturally rise even higher, and everything will be vastly different from before.

Some young members of the Sima family became excited, their faces flushing red.

They swayed, struggling to rise from the ground, and looked with utmost reverence at the cavern whose door was wide open.

May the old ancestor have myriad blessings!

May the old ancestor live ten thousand years!

The old ancestor is mighty!

The old ancestor has successfully condensed the Life Pool; our Sima family's fortune is enduring.

The old ancestor has successfully condensed the Life Pool; our Sima family's future is bright.

The old ancestor has successfully condensed the Life Pool; the Sima descendants congratulate the old ancestor!

These younger generations of the Sima family were each so excited they almost danced with joy; their family old ancestor had the qualification to go to Three Linked City to devote themselves in reliance, and the outstanding among them also had the qualification to follow their old ancestor to Three Linked City.

It is said that Three Linked City is an extraordinarily miraculous place, a first-class immortal realm holy land in the world, with countless unimaginable enjoyments there.

Having heard the rumors, if a child of a small family there is taken fancy to by a golden daughter of a great family, then the story of a salted fish turning over and leaping the dragon gate overnight is not unheard of.

Once such a good thing happens, the benefits to the family need not be said, and one's own prospects become limitless.

Everyone was filled with joy and laughter, everyone's faces flushed red; they eagerly looked at the cavern, hoping that the old ancestor's power to calm the wave would allow him to emerge as soon as possible from the secluded cavern after gathering the soul tide.

After about an hour and a bit, a flicker of green fire flashed within the cavern.

The Sima family members simultaneously closed their mouths.

They knew this was the legendary Life Fire Tribulation that might appear after condensing the Life Pool.

Thus, they were both delighted and anxious, staring at the cavern mouth, each holding their breath, daring not to make a sound.

The Life Fire Tribulation comes from nowhere unknown; it is known to appear suddenly when those with deep foundations, whose condensed Life Pool surpasses ordinary cultivators, have just completed great achievement.

Those with shallow foundations, inferior cultivation methods, who rely on luck to condense a tiny Life Pool, may wish for the Life Fire Tribulation, but it will not appear for them.

However, once the Life Fire Tribulation appears, it directly forges the just-condensed Life Pool.

If one cannot endure it, the Life Pool naturally turns to ash, the soul dissipates like smoke, and what remains in place is merely a corpse that still breathes, still has a heartbeat, still has blood flowing, and a body that remains warm and soft—a living dead.

If one endures it, the just-condensed Life Pool is like sand forged into glass, its quality at least becoming several times stronger; moreover, the fortunate often gain one or two powerful divine abilities from it, their strength far surpassing cultivators who have not undergone the Life Fire Tribulation's tempering.

It is both a great opportunity and a great terror.

The Sima family members never dreamed that their old ancestor would actually face the Life Fire Tribulation.

This shows how deep the old ancestor's foundations are, how extraordinary his secret cultivation method is—the Sima family members secretly legend that, with their family's cultivation inheritance, it is impossible to cultivate to the Life Pool Realm.

The old ancestor's ability to condense the Life Pool came from sixty years ago, when he was outside exploring ruins and obtained a fragmentary scroll, from which he gained great benefit.

That fragmentary scroll truly exists.

The old ancestor being able to face the Life Fire Tribulation shows how formidable that fragmentary scroll is.

The Sima family members' hearts pounded like drums, their bodies trembling with excitement from head to toe. The old ancestor's fortune is the fortune of the entire Sima family—wonderful, beyond words!

The green fire flickered for about the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, after which a strong, mellow soul wave transmitted from the cavern.

A flash of light and shadow, and an old man over five feet tall, with crane-white hair and a youthful face, possessing an otherworldly air, stood at the cavern mouth with hands behind his back, a smile covering his face. He waved to the many Sima descendants standing outside and said with full confidence: "Youngsters, today we will hold a celebratory feast; in three days, we will select a batch of elite clansmen to follow me to Three Linked City."

The many members of the Sima family shouted in unison, each excited to the point of their faces turning red.

They knelt down one after another, auspicious and pleasant congratulatory words gushing forth like a tide, making the Sima family's old ancestor laugh 'hahaha' and continually nod.

On the dome of the stone cavern, a speck of seven-colored divine light flickered.

Boom!

The void violently trembled.

The air suddenly solidified, becoming as hard and heavy as an iron plate, then violently undulated.

Just a single shock, the tens of thousands of slaves and servants in the stone cavern exploded into blood mist, then transformed into falling blood-red ice crystals.

More than two thousand Sima family Sensing Mystery Realm and Foundation Establishment cultivators, unable to resist, exploded together with their armor into blood mist.

Blood-red ice crystals fluttered down in sheets.

More than a hundred Sima family Chonglou Realm members still had smiles on their faces when the air trembled; they too exploded into blood mist, likewise turning into sheets of blood-red ice crystals that fell heavily to the ground.

A streak of fire spurted from the Sima family ancestor's chest.

A bronze lamp, fist-sized and of ancient simple design, floated out; a point of lamp-light like a bean shone forth, radiating brilliant light in all directions, protecting the Sima family ancestor.

This is the treasure that the Sima family ancestor obtained together with that fragmentary scroll when he got it from the ruins.

This lamp possesses tremendous power, with many inconceivable miraculous abilities; relying on it, the Sima family ancestor, with cultivation at the thirty-two heavens of the Chonglou Realm, crossed a major realm to slay seven masters of the Life Pond realm in those ruins.

Such a great treasure, with just a flash of light, exploded with a pop into powder.

In the next instant, the Sima family ancestor also exploded into a blood mist, likewise turning into sheets of blood-colored ice crystals that fell heavily to the ground.

Thick dark-blue Xuan ice spread rapidly in the stone cavern, accompanied by a piercing cracking sound; dozens of stone pillars forming a defensive great array before the cavern were covered in Xuan ice, and in just a moment were frozen by the terrifying low temperature into clumps of ice shards that exploded apart.

Cold Qi surged like a tide, quickly enveloping the stone cavern within a radius of a hundred li.

All things in the stone cavern were burned to ashes; every living being was utterly annihilated in an instant.

At the very center of the stone cavern, the Sima family's castle had vanished into smoke, leaving a circular pit several li in diameter and several zhang deep, sunk in place.

A suit of heavy armor about ten meters tall, forged entirely from translucent blue metal, knelt on one knee in the circular pit, constantly emanating intense Cold Qi from its whole body.

Within this armor there is no substantive human body, only a mass of intense humanoid cold light that flickers in and out of view.

At the armor's joints and inside the visor's eye sockets, thick Cold Qi gushed forth; especially from the two eye sockets of the visor, cold light burst and sprayed, emitting blue cold light tens of meters long.

"Target…… coordinates…… offset…… planning route, straight…… sweep."

The humanoid cold light inside the giant armor emitted a bone‑chilling icy voice as it muttered to itself; he slowly rose, and vast Cold Qi spread behind him, quickly condensing into six pairs of slender cold‑light wings.

The cold‑light wings, tens of meters long, swung heavily, with a loud bang; the giant armor shattered the solidified air, sending out ring after ring of milky‑white air explosions in the air, like a blue meteor shooting swiftly down the passage leading from this stone cavern to the Three‑Linked City.

After flying several hundred li through the passage, the giant armor arrived at another medium‑sized stone cavern.

In this medium‑sized stone cavern, likewise a third‑rate clan had taken hold.

The giant armor lingered not at all, heedlessly flying through the stone cavern; the spreading Cold Qi froze the entire cavern, and every creature instantly exploded into blood mist in the terrible cold, turning into blood‑colored ice crystals that fell to the ground.

One stone cavern, two stone caverns, three stone caverns……

The giant armor moved at extreme speed, swiftly passing through one stone cavern after another; wherever it passed, all things were annihilated.

He rapidly approached the Three‑Linked City, continually drawing nearer.

The closer he got to the Three‑Linked City, the greater the power of the Cold Qi emanating from the giant armor; the passage's rock walls could not withstand the Cold Qi he released, large strata froze into stone powder that fell away, and the passage was forcibly expanded to several times its size by the Cold Qi radiating from his body.

Inside Three‑Linked City, Wu Tie was curled up in the secret nest arranged by Jin Man Cang.

A few hours ago, a wisp of consciousness of the Wa clan's ancestral spirit, Wa Huangshi, descended; with an inconceivable great divine ability it annihilated the Xuan Spider's avatar, and directly crossing the void, it forcibly tore a large chunk from the Xuan Spider's true body's soul, injecting a small portion of that soul energy into Wu Tie's soul.

At that moment, Wu Tie nearly fainted.

His soul could not withstand such a fierce impact; the true body's soul of the Xuan Spider was too powerful, so powerful that Wu Tie could not imagine how strong the Xuan Spider's true body actually was.

At that moment, Wu Tie felt that he was a tiny ant, suddenly needing to transform himself, forcibly turning into a heavenly dragon!

Such a heaven‑shaking, earth‑overturning transformation, even Wu Tie's resolute disposition could not endure it.

Fortunately, he still had nine drops of great witch's essence blood that had not been fully absorbed; the nine clusters of essence blood released a massive qi‑blood energy, forcibly stabilizing Wu Tie's condition.

At that moment, all soul‑possessing beings in the Three‑Linked City were shaken by the terrifying soul undulations emanating from the ancestral spirit Wa Huangshi.

Experts like Hua Yan were directly crushed to pulp, and Hua Yan was already a peak Life Pond realm master most skilled in soul secret arts…… others, needless to say, were in an even worse state.

At that moment, everyone fell into a rigid state.

They stood stiff as stone statues, thoughtless, speechless, motionless.

Their souls congealed, leaving them at the mercy of time's passage; during this period of soul solidification, their perception was a blank.

They lost all memory of that period.

A wisp of spirit light rose to his heart; Wu Tie seized Grey Master with one hand and lifted Jin Man Cang with the other, taking advantage of the moment when all the city's beings were locked in rigidity, he pulled them and swiftly left the Three‑Linked City urban area.

He wanted to seize the chance to flee Three‑Linked City, but after just running a few hundred li he already could barely endure the violent turmoil in his soul.

Even with the support of the great witch's essence blood, Wu Tie could not endure the rapid strengthening of his soul.

Wu Tie endured the discomfort of his soul, bringing Grey Master and Jin Man Cang to the secret nest prepared by Jin Man Cang, then with a clean, decisive punch he struck Jin Man Cang on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious outright.

With a wave of his hand, hundreds of seals with varied effects rained down like droplets upon the unconscious Jin Man Cang.

This was enough to ensure that Jin Man Cang could not awaken on his own for a month.

Wu Tie, straining himself, placed Grey Master properly, then collapsed headfirst onto the ground.

His soul was like a tiny boat in a tsunami, tossing and turning, swaying left and right, his body curled up, his soul undergoing wild tumbling and shaking.

Some strange seals and secret arts were absorbed by Wu Tie.

The ancestral spirit Wa Huangshi did not erase the memories of those seals and secret arts; Wu Tie smiled, from them he obtained the secret method to break the seal on Grey Master's body, and he immediately set his mind at ease.

His body curled up, his surroundings roiling with obscure yet powerful magical fluctuations.

After half‑dozing for several hours, Wu Tie suddenly saw that, in the secret nest prepared by Jin Man Cang, ice crystals were silently seeping out from the rock walls.